Juan Leon, senior investment strategist at digital asset management company Bitwise, believes that Ethereum will benefit from several important trends in 2025, reclaiming its dominant position, with the biggest driving factor being the tokenization of real-world assets (RWA).
In an article published on Tuesday, Leon pointed out that in 2024, the two main focuses of the cryptocurrency market were Bitcoin’s surge due to the launch of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and record-breaking inflows of funds, and Solana becoming a favorite among retail investors driven by meme coin speculation, which largely overshadowed Ethereum. Despite Ethereum’s decent return so far this year (about 66%), it still pales in comparison to Solana’s 106% and Bitcoin’s 130%.
In Bitwise’s recently published 2025 cryptocurrency forecast report, the company believes that several real-world mega-trends will shape the cryptocurrency industry in the coming year, including the continued rise of stablecoins and the proliferation of artificial intelligence agents in cryptocurrency trading. Leon believes that the biggest and most underestimated opportunity among them is tokenization, the process of bringing real-world assets (such as government bonds or real estate) onto the blockchain, a market currently dominated by Ethereum.
Leon pointed out that the tokenization of real-world assets is already happening, and the scale of tokenized assets is rapidly growing. He mentioned that enterprises including BlackRock and UBS have started introducing government securities, commodities, real estate, private equity, and other real-world assets onto the chain. For example, BlackRock owns a $578 million tokenized government bond fund and plans to expand its scale. Bitwise expects tokenized fund assets to triple next year, with Ethereum being the driving force behind it.
Leon stated that the total value of global real-world assets is approximately $100 trillion, and it will take time, possibly decades, to transfer most of it onto the tokenized track. However, if achieved, annual fees from RWA-related assets could exceed $100 billion, more than 40 times Ethereum’s total fee revenue of about $2.4 billion from the beginning of the year. Additionally, Leon believes that the new, more crypto-friendly U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will provide the regulatory clarity needed to accelerate the tokenization process.
Related articles: “21.co Analyst: Tokenization of U.S. Treasury Bonds Expected to Reach $3 Billion by the End of the Year” “Tokenized Precious Metals Market Cap Surpasses $1 Billion, Gold Tokens PAXG and XAUT Lead” “BlackRock’s Tokenized Fund BUIDL Adopts Multi-Chain Strategy, Expands to Networks like Aptos, Arbitrum”
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